About the research project

'Navigating the Career Hairpin' seeks to find out how researchers prepare for and deal with the significant career transition from being a postdoctoral researcher to achieving research independence by becoming a Principal Investigator (PI). The research specifically looks at the time period from when researchers started their PhD to obtaining their first substantial grant as PI. The project will develop resources to support the personal, professional and career development of postdoctoral researchers, and will provide data to inform researcher and educational development policy and practice.

The project is funded by The Elsevier Foundation New Scholars Programme, the University of Cambridge and Leiden University. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Cambridge on the 20^th January 2014.

Project rationale

Globally, the number of postdoctoral researchers is increasing and the length of the postdoctoral period is lengthening. The postdoctoral period is when individuals are expected to further develop their scholarly independence, their scholarly identity and their academic career trajectory, yet their experiences of gaining a permanent position in academia are relatively under-examined. There is also little evidence on which to base changes in policy and practice in order to facilitate their advancement.

Project methodology

Three research-intensive Universities are participating in the research study: the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London in the UK, and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Data are being collected at an individual level through an in-depth interview method and at an institutional level using a template in order to capture the policies, funding and professional and career development support offered.

Project outputs

In 2014 and 2015, preliminary findings were disseminated at:

• 2014 Vitae International Conference (Manchester, UK)
• 2014 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) annual conference, (Washington, US)
• 2015 Standing Conference for Academic Practice (SCAP) annual conference (Warwick, UK)
• 2015 1st Annual Researcher Education Development (RED) Conference (Sheffield, UK)
• 2015 Experiences of post-PhD researchers: building strategies for success, Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) conference (Newport, Wales)

Papers published from this project include:

• 2015 Becoming a PI: From 'doing' to 'managing' research, Teaching in Higher Education
• 2016 Becoming a PI: agency persistence and some luck!, International Journal for Researcher Development, Vol. 7, No. 2
• 2017 How might we better design support for postdocs?, International Journal for Academic Development, Vol. 22, No. 4

Who’s involved?

• Dr Sharon Saunders is the project leader
• Professor Lynn McAlpine, Professor of Higher Education Development at the University of Oxford and Professor Emerita at McGill University
• Natacha Wilson, Research Associate and Director of Cambridge Insights: a learning and innovation consultancy

For more information about the research project contact Sharon Saunders